Bunyoro is one of the most endowed Kingdoms in Uganda if you must ask due to the numerous cultural and historical sites that carry lot of meaning especially when it comes to reign of the former King-Omukama Kabalega Chwa.
Within the grounds of Mparo Royal Tombs (at the entrance of the Site) is the spectacular Emin-Pasha-Kabalega Memorial/Monument, a cone-shaped structure that shows the meeting point between Omukama Kabalega and Explorer Emin Pasha on 22nd September 1877. Emin Pasha (28th March 1840 to 23rd October 1892) was a Governor of the Egyptian Province of Equatoria on the Upper Nile.
King Kabalega is widely known or remembered for openly resisting British governance in his Kingdom Bunyoro and in Uganda in general after the British Colonial Government allied within Buganda Kingdom to fight his Kingdom for opposing Colonialism. However, his resistance did not last long and he was eventually defeated in April 1899 before being sent into exile in Seychelles. He later died in 1923 but his legacy still lives on.
Kabalega’s grave on the other hand is sheltered within a circular grass-thatched house and throne placed on lion and leopard hides also within Mparo Royal Tombs, which sits on a 7-acre piece of land encircled within a Perimeter wall. The site is situated at approximately 2 kilometers from Hoima Town. For many years until early 1890s, this Town was the main Capital City of Omukama Kabalega and was there that he met good friends like Emin Pasha and enemies like Sir Samuel Baker. It is also from the confines of a ell-guarded Mparo that he always planned and launched attacks against different Kingdoms such as Busoga and Toro and also threatened Buganda Kingdom’s domineering stance.
You can therefore find the Kabalega-Emin Pasha Monument within Mparo Tombs, one of the most treasured historical sites in Bunyoro region that was once under the control of Bunyoro Kitara Empire. Not only does the site feature the Emin Pasha Monument, The Royal Tomb is also a burial site for the great King-Omukama Chwa Kabalega, Omukama Sir Tito Winyi (the Kingdom’s most known King and father of current King) as well as other Royals especially Princess and Princesses. Particularly, Kabalega’s Tomb is actually found inside a round grass-thatched hut with a wooden door and covered with a large cowhide pegged down with nine pieces of traditional hoes as well as lion and leopard skins that served as floor coverings in the King’s Palace.
Therefore, the Kabalega-Emin Pasha Monument is one of the important historical sites in Bunyoro Kingdom but Uganda in general because it shows the meeting point of one of Uganda’s greatest Kings-Omukama Chwa Kabalega and Emin Pasha-an Ottoman Physician and governor of the Egyptian Province of Equatorial on the Upper Nile.